After getting introduced Ms. Rice gave a short speech that had three main points. Her first point was to not specialize in a career too early. When Ms. Rice was younger she played piano and her dream was to play in Carnegie Hall. When she went to college, which I later found out was the University of Denver, she was a piano major. After attending a music festival and finding out that kids half her age were playing songs that had taken her a year to master Rice decided to switch majors. It was obviously a good move for her because of her incredibly successful political career and she said a big highlight of her time in the White House was getting to play with the famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
In today's age kids are specializing so early whether it's a particular sport, a musical instrument or a certain subject. Besides the danger of burning out and losing interest you don't expose yourself to all the cool things you could have experienced. And, like the main point Condoleeza Rice made, if you choose your career too early you might not be be in the career that is best for you.
Ms. Rice also emphasized the importance of exploring the world. She learned Russian and began her career as a Soviet specialist. She said there are so many different cultures that people should immerse themselves in and is disappointed that Americans don't actively seek out the corners of the world. Since America is so influential everyone else learns English which only makes people less motivated to learn a foreign language.
Along with learning about the world Condi stressed the importance of learning a language. My parents always talk about how essential Mandarin will be in business in years to come and how I should work super hard and do extra studies. Usually I roll my eyes and quickly agree to get them off my back but hearing such a smart woman of high status say how I should go out and learn a language is more awakening than the parentals.
Condi's last point was to do something that's hard for you. She said it is way more satisfying to have achieved a goal in a class that is challenging. If you are good at math then push yourself to become a good writer. And if you are a good writer but struggle in math then work harder on math.
I appreciate how Condoleeza Rice tailored her talk to us high school students. She could have given a generic speech that she's done many times, but her intro was tailored to young adults. Her advice was useful and, like I said before, much more meaningful coming from her instead of parents.
After her speech the main portion was a Question & Answer with senior Katherine Harris. To make things easier on myself I paraphrased Dr. Rice's responses. This is all off of memory so there is no guarantee of their accuracy.
1. What was the hardest political situation you ever faced?
She said... There were a lot of difficult situations, but any time it's an issue of war and peace and = lives are at stake it is extremely difficult. Probably the most difficult situation though was when Hezbollah was in Lebanon. Lebanon had a government that we liked and Israel decided to bomb Lebanon. Innocent civilians were killed and the carnage was on tv. But our government couldn't tell Israel to stop bombing Lebanon because the terrorist group Hezbollah was there.
I say... I was surprised that she didn't mention the Iraq war or something that was more publicized while she was in office under George W. Bush. The invasion of Iraq was so controversial that I thought her response would address that, but she went with a different conflict in the Middle East. I guess to her any time civilians were getting killed was tough on her.
2. Who was the most difficult person you had to negotiate with?
She said... You know, I never saw negotiating that way because I always enjoyed it, but there were a few people. As you guys are aware, there is a genocide going on in Sudan, and I had to talk to the leader of the Sudanese people (I forgot the ruler's name). This man was allowing a genocide to occur in his own country, and quite frankly he was a goon. The leader of Libya (also don't remember the name) was also pretty weird.
3. What would you consider your lasting political achievement(s) to be?
She said... Seemingly smart political decisions made now can end up looking very stupid in the future and dumb decisions now can turn out to be brilliant in 20 years, so it's very hard to say. But I would say the spreading of democracy to Afghanistan, the Middle East in general and especially to India. India is the world's largest democracy in terms of people, and I think we were very successful in helping out India.
I say... To me, Condoleeza Rice obviously is a huge believer in democracy and that every country in the world should be democratic. This is where her full-fledged support of democracy began to emerge in the talk.
4. What do you consider the biggest threat(s) to America?
She said... I consider the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran to be especially dangerous. Also, the border between the United States and Mexico is becoming exceedingly hostile because of the escalating violence surrounding the drug trade and the government's inability to do anything about it. However I think that America needs to get back to the values that made this country so great. We are crumbling from the inside. Our public education system needs a lot of help.
I say... I didn't realize that Dr. Rice, who is more well known for her support of the Iraq war, is actually quite concerned about what's going on within the United States. You'd think that with all of her talk about spreading democracy that she wasn't preoccupied with internal affairs but that is her biggest worry.
5. You chaired the board of the Millenium Challenge Corporation, a government agency that works to end poverty through lending money to build up a nation's economy. How did Millenium Challenge determine which countries would receive money, and how much money they would receive?
She said... We're looking for countries whose governments are doing everything they can to help their people, and to put it bluntly, are going to use the money we give them to line their own pockets. If the government isn't corrupt, or is making an effort to eliminate corruption, if the government is working to improve the health of its people, if they are trying to educate children etc. then the US government will give out a lot of money. For example, we gave Tanzani $800 million and little tiny Ghana $400 million.
6. How has being a black woman affected your career?
She said... You know, I try not to think about it. I mean, getting caught up in race and how it affects my work won't help so I don't think about it. There were times though I was younger when my boss said 'why is a nice black girl like yourself studying to become a soviet specialist?'
What I do think are important in people's careers are mentors. Nobody can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and achieve success, we all need a little help. You should choose a mentor with a common interest and a relationship could start. I suggest when you're in college getting a professor who teaches what you're interested in, read some of his or her material beforehand and then mention how you like what they've written. Then they'll take an interest in you.
I say... It's interesting how one of the most successful and prominent female black politician shies away from labeling herself in terms of race. I completely understand it, she doesn't want to be known as the black woman who rose to success, she just wants to be remembered for her political, educational and philanthropic achievements. When our family had some friends over for dinner this weekend we brought up how there's such a lack of African-American leadership in this country, and Condoleeza Rice is a great example, whether she wants to be labeled this way or not.
7. What do you think makes a good leader in today's world?
She said... Everyone likes to be liked and to be popular but I think that the people who are willing to make tough decisions are the best leaders. At the end of the day not everyone's going to be happy, and the leader is going to have to live with that.
I say... Not surprising, considering that Dr. Rice was known for her controversial decisions in war. Because she herself had to make many tough decisions she would naturally favor someone who thought like herself. But this also rings true in an unbiased way, whoever is willing to weather the good and bad times is fit to be a leader.
8. What would you have done differently in Afghanistan?
She said... You know, you have to realize that Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan's president) is no treasure. You have to work with what you have. Back during the Bush administration, there was a scandal because a man who converted to Christianity from Islam and was going to be executed. I called up Karzai and said, 'Mr. Karzai, as much as we'd like to help, your country will not see another penny from the United States if that man is killed.'
He hurriedly agreed, hung up, then called back a few hours later saying, 'I have figured out the solution. He will be allowed to live and will be declared insane.'
What we want the American people to realize is that Afghanistan is going to take time. Afghanistan is the 5th poorest country in the world, the only roads are roads that the United States and other countries have built and there's virtually no electricity except for in the capital, Kabul. Because Afghanistan is so rural it would have been better to have worked from the outside in. The heart of the country is not in Kabul, it is in the villages off of beaten paths in the countryside.
Also, we should have built up a bigger police force. The Afghan police force is about 1/3 the size it needs to be.
I say... I loved the personal story about Hamid Karzai. I think too often the United States focuses on trying to change things that are out of control and with Karzai, like Dr. Rice said, we just have to make the best situation out of what we have. I also didn't realize how poor Afghanistan is. I incorrectly believed that the poorest countries in the world would all be in Africa. She made me more patient with results coming from Afghanistan because not only are the United States fighting off terrorists, but they have to make sure the country is in a position where they have a functioning and sustainable economy for when they leave.
The Q&A moderated by Katherine Harris ended and a lot of people left for lunch. About 1/4 of the people stayed in their seats to hear and ask questions directly to Condi. These were the questions people asked.
1. What advice would you give to current Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton?
She said... Well, I would let her do her own job because from my experience it was so difficult to get things down when you had everyone chirping at you. But I would probably say that the spreading of democracy is the most important thing.
I say... I don't remember her answer very clearly.
2. What's your view on wiretapping?
She said... I fully support wiretapping. What people have to know, and what most people don't understand, is that the federal government can't just listen to any phone conversation it wants to. You have to have been flagged for extremely suspicious activities or be a known terrorist for the government to be able to listen to your calls. On September 9, 2001, two days before 9/11 there was a call from Afghanistan to a known terrorist in San Diego. We learned this sometime after the Twin Towers had been destroyed. Do you think it would have been useful to have known what was said? I think so. Instead of hearing this phone call though, our only intelligence was in July of that year we heard someone say "something big is going to happen." I think our country deserved to know more than just that "something big was going to happen."
I say... This was another personal thing she added that you wouldn't know unless Condoleeza Rice came and talked at your school. These personal bits of information were what made this talk so special. Her use of a specific call was very persuasive.
3. How important do you think the elections in Iraq were?
She said... Oh, I think the Iraq elections were hugely important. You have a country that was ruled by Saddam Hussein, a dictator that killed hundreds of thousands of his own people, and a few years later they become the first true Arab democracy? Not only this, but if the elections are successful and Iraq becomes more stable Iran would see Iraq as a model. Iran has always been problematic and if they saw the success that Iraq had with a democracy and liberty for its people hopefully they would take note and follow suit.
I say... She's definitely right, but she is also a little biased. It's kind of the perfect question for her to answer to support the Iraq war.
4. (this was a question posed by myself after everything was finished) What was it like for you growing up in the south during the Civil Rights movement?
She said.... Well, I was pretty young when it was all happening (born in 1954) and I had my family was pretty strong and more wealthy than others, but it was definitely hard.
My history teacher later said how you can see why she has won so many teaching awards at Stanford. The way she speaks is so inspiring and thought provoking it makes you want to challenge yourself and make a name for yourself. Thanks, Menlo, for providing me with the opportunity to hear Condoleeza Rice talk.
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